Heart shaped anchor
by bloodymary2
Summary: Sometimes our sacrifices don't actually close doors, but open new ones we had once thought closed forever. Regina only wanted to save her beloved son... the rest was completely unexpected. AU. Spoilers for "Think lovely thoughts" (3x08). NEW CHAPTER ORDER. PLEASE CHECK IF YOU READ IT ALL.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**:I don't own these characters, this encarnation of them or the plots that are considered canon. Please don't sue, for this is only harmless fun.

**A/N:** Should I be posting another story when I have two in the works in other fandoms? Maybe not. But, really, ONCE is inspirting me like crazy (I have three fics in the works, already) and I wanted to post this before next epi.

**_SPOILERS_** for "Think Lovely Thoughts" (3x08). Didn't watch, don't read. You've been warned.

The rest is AU, most likely. And **Outlaw Queen**. ;D

Enjoy!

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**PROLOGUE**

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There was a heart in her hand again, pulsing with life and hope and regret.

There was a heart in her hand, a life she now controlled and she felt none of the thrill from before. The control, the power… it was all meaningless now. Nothing remained but a sliver of hope that this heart she now gripped could turn the tables and bring her son back to life. It wasn't the heart Pan had manipulated Henry into giving so carelessly away. It wasn't a pure heart, or a big heart. But it was a heart freely given.

There was a heart in her hand and it was her own.

Dark spots had all but covered the red life it contained and if she was to go through with this, it wouldn't be to let her son be consumed by the same darkness that had seduced long ago. A wave of a hand and the black slowly started to recede, being reabsorbed by her body. This darkness found no heart to envelope, so it went in deeper, seeking out her very soul.

It felt so much worst than it had when around her heart.

In the distance, she could hear Emma and Snow and a recently released Rumplestiltskin scream at her to stop. It took no genius, after all, to figure her plan out. Magic always came with a price, her mentor kept telling her. Death would be hers for daring to cross such powerful laws of nature.

Nothing would be able to stop her, though. Not now.

Another wave of her hand and Regina constructed a barrier between her and the others attempting to stop her. Carefully, she willed the heart she held with all the hope and love she had within her and placed the organ over her son's still, plaid covered chest.

"Henry…" There were tears in her eyes - and how could there not have been -, but Regina refused to let them fall. There was no time for this, no time for tears when she had so much to say to a boy that she would never see again. Her precious son. Her wonderful little prince. "I…"

Swallowing hard, she tried again. "I know that what I did to you can never be forgiven." She brushed his hair away from his forehead. "I know you felt alone and angry and maybe even scared and that makes me really sad, because I never wanted that for you."

Maybe the tears wouldn't obey her after all.

"I know that you doubted my love and that my actions only served to crush the love you felt for me. I don't even know how to tell you how devastating that is to me. Because I do love you, Henry, even if you don't love me the same way." Regina breathed in deeply and leaned forward to drop a kiss on his cheek. "I will always love you, no matter what, and I only want you to be happy, okay? Whatever that is, I want you to be happy."

The moment was short and long and muffled with the sound of cries and scuffle. She ignored the sound from without and focused only on the sound of her beating heart, which was now no longer hers. Pushing it in, she felt the resistance of a body that didn't recognize the heart begging entrance into it and the pain in her chest at having its life force taken away. These things didn't matter, though… In went the heart.

A single millisecond was all the time she had left and Regina used that single snapshot of time to take in Henry's face and rising chest. It was a smile that briefly tried to overcome her face before darkness closed in, making her body fall backwards with a thud.

Regina didn't see Henry open his eyes, didn't hear Emma rushing to her side, crying out her name, didn't feel Rumple's calloused hand on her eyes, gently closing them one final time. One moment there was Henry and the sound of his seven year old self laughing and the next there was nothing.

_Mommy, mommy! Again! Do that again!_

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More, soon...


	2. The truths of a sacrifice

**A/N:** Another chapter, starting to explore what is really going on. Be patient, more to come this week.

Enjoy! And review, of course.

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**CHAPTER 1: The truths of a sacrifice**

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Rumplestiltskin felt, oddly, heartbroken.

He wondered why he felt this way, as he saw Regina's face attempt a smile, before the very life left her still open eyes. She had always been beautiful, much more so than Cora could have ever been, but lying there, seeming almost peaceful, she surely looked the most beautiful he had ever seen her. And that tugged at his heart with guilt.

"Wake up!" Emma screamed, shaking the limp body of her nemesis in desperation. "Wake up! You can't do this to me. You can't just leave Henry like that and us stranded on this island!" Emma was crying, Henry was regaining consciousness and Rumple was trying to understand why there was a pang in his chest, squeezing it tight. "Come back, you stubborn woman, come back!"

"She didn't just give him her heart… Regina gave him her life-force, her own breath." Rumple explained, pulling Emma away from the still form of his former protegé and gently closing the sightless eyes one final time.

It almost hurt to glance upon them looking so lifeless.

"What does that mean?" Henry asked, as he pulled his body up to sit beside his grandmother's shaking arms. Snow was silently crying.

"It means she is dead, Henry. And there is nothing we can do to bring her back." He glanced at Regina once more. "Magic can do much… but it can't do that."

He remembered saying that to King George once. He remembered saying something similar to a young, heartbroken Regina. His words lacked the flair and mockery of those days, though. So much had happened. So much had changed.

"No!" The boy lunged forward and if not for David's strong arms around him, he would have crashed against Rumplestiltskin with his entire weight. "No! She shouldn't have done that! I was supposed to be the hero! It was my life! My life and my heart for the sake of magic…" The angry cries dissolved into sobbing and the arms holding him back were suddenly holding him up.

"Henry… It wasn't to save magic. Pan needed you to save himself." Glares were directed at Hook, as he bluntly told the boy the truth, but the captain couldn't care less about it. The boy deserved to know about his mother's sacrifice. He deserved to know what it was all for. "Without your mother's heart, you would have died."

Another loud sob filled the air, but Henry wasn't the only one crying. Emma, Snow and Tinkerbell had tears on their own cheeks.

"She can't be gone… She can't. She's my mom."

xxxxxx

There had come the tears, the sobbing, the denial and finally, the quiet. Such deafening silence it felt oppressive. Much more than the heat of the jungle. Much deeper than the fear a powerful, loose Pan evoked. Regina still lay upon the earth, eyes closed and chest still. Henry stared at her face attentively. And the rest… well, they were staring at the pair, at a loss for words, for actions. This had never been part of the plan.

"Well, well, well… I'm mightily impressed with the Queen's sacrifice. Who would have thought…" Pan floated down towards them and the adults crowded around Henry, drawing weapons. The boy, though, continued staring at his mother's still form - it wasn't a body… a body meant she was really gone, now and forever. "Doesn't matter, though. Can't really let your little family go… loose ends, I think they're called."

Heroes didn't waste away crying. Heroes acted. Heroes won in the end. Henry may not have his own heart within his chest, but he still believed. He believed strongly and with all the love he could feel inside him, love his mother had sacrificed to give him. Henry believed.

"You won't have a chance to stop us. You won't win", Henry told Peter Pan. "Good always wins."

"No, Henry. Those are lies. Good never wins." Pan swept down to stare at the boy's face up close. "Your father didn't win. Your grandfather didn't win. And you know what? Your grandfather's father only won when he stopped playing nice."

Many stares of confusion followed the flying boy's swift approach and just as swift departure. Rumple's was not one of them.

"Let us stop being mysterious, _Father_…"

Stares turned to gasps at this point. Pan looked none too pleased at this revelation, though he had taunted Rumple with it back at Skull Cave mere hours before. Cold eyes met those of the Dark One's and the group could hardly blink before the evil boy appeared in front of them, reached for Henry's shirt and attempted to pull him away from the protective circle of his family.

Rumple raised a hand, David and Emma swords, while Neal lunged for Henry. None of these actions, though, proved necessary. The boy they had come so far to rescue had barely lifted a foot off the ground before a force blasted from his frame. To the members of his rescue group and family, the blast felt nothing more than a sudden wind. To Pan, who had threatened him, the blast was much fiercer and blew him sky high, beyond the copse of trees and out of sight.

"Wow, kid… what was that?" Emma took a moment to gape at the point she had last seen Pan and then turned to stare at Henry, who she half held with one arm already.

"I… I don't know. It almost felt like…"

"Like Regina was here", Rumple finished for his grandson, amazement shining in his eyes, even if his face remained stoic.

"Yeah!" Henry turned to face the man and smiled.

"... which should be impossible…", the older man continued, expression fading into confusion.

"Oh…" Henry deflated at that. "I thought, maybe, mom was still here somehow."

"Henry, without her heart and her life-force, your mother could not have survived this." New tears sprung forth in the boy's eyes. "Except that somehow… Somehow, Regina is still alive enough to command the magic she passed on to you."

"They are connected? Since he has her heart?" David asked, consciously inching closer to Snow, who had settled alongside their daughter and grandson.

"No… The only way for Henry's body to accept another heart completely, would be by sacrificing the original body."

"Regina's", Emma offered.

"Yes, dearie." Rumple knelt by the fallen Queen and stared at her with searching eyes. "Somehow, though… _something_ managed to hold on to some part of her, essentially keeping the queen alive."

Henry shrugged his mom's arm away and stepped closer to his fallen mother and Mr. Gold. "So, if I manage to get my own heart back and give her heart back, she'll live?"

"It's not that simple, Henry", the dark lord shook his head. "Regina may be connected to you through her love and heart, but it's not you keeping her anchored to this world. To get her really back, we would have to find the part of her soul that still lives and the anchor still keeping her here." Rumple passed a hand over Regina's body and the underside of it glowed. "It has to be something really powerful…"

"But getting her heart back would be the first step?", Henry insisted, head inclining forward, so his eyes could bare into Rumple's soul.

"Yes, dearie… and that means getting your own heart back from Pan." Rumple rose again to his feet.

"And we'll keep ignoring the very big news that Pan is actually the crocodile's father?" Hook stated, a bit of mockery and a bit of seriousness in his words. "Because I, for once, think that it very big and very important news…"

His arch nemesis shot him a glare and ignored his comment. Neither Henry, nor Emma, though, were willing to let it go.

"Yeah, Gold, what's up with that? And can we use it against Pan?", Emma inquired.

"Mr. Gold, if Peter Pan dies, what happens to my heart?", Henry asked at the same time.

"Well, dearies, my father decided to be young forever. Hence, Peter Pan", Rumple made a motion to Emma and her parents and ignored the savior's scoff at his incredibly brief explanation. Next, he turned to Henry. "Yes, Henry, if Pan dies, so does your heart. We must trap him and remove the heart."

"Will the box work again?" It was Neal's turn to speak and his father wondered why he stood so removed from the _charming_ family and hadn't commented on his own grandfather.

"No… We trap Pan in there and we won't be able to access his heart. Or Henry's heart. We are in need of a new plan and I have just the thought…."

"No", Neal said. He stood, again, with that look of distrust and betrayal in his face. "We are not following your plan, when I know you still view Henry as a threat."

"Bae…", Rumple whispered, always surprised at how much his son's rejection hurt.

"N-", Neal was cut off by Emma's strong voice.

"Neal! This is not about your - or my! - abandonment issues! This is about Henry and Regina and getting the hell of of this awful place. So, just stop!" Emma huffed, made sure to grasp her son's sleeve, a yearning almost unbearable to always make sure he was really there, and turned to Gold.

"Tell us."

Emma ignored Neal's hurt look, Hook's triumphant expression, Snow's worried frown and David's unsure stance. This was not about petty fights or love triangles. This was about her son's mother and Henry's precious heart.

* * *

_What is the anchor? How will Pan be defeated?_


	3. The merry way we choose

**A/N:** So, I wanted to be like those cool authors that had specific days for updating and such, but I'm not. Sorry. I'll try to keep this semi-regular.

To the wonderful people who read and reviewed my fic, special thanks. Your guesses aren't far off the mark... ;P

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**CHAPTER 2: The merry way we choose**

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Regina had pondered death before.

She had actually been very close to death and dying before. This, though, was not how she thought it would be. There had been the big dramatic moment - and for that she was glad, for to die silently after a life lived so out loud, would have been a disappointment -, followed by lightness and darkness.

As the world, the high trees of the Neverland jungle, faded into nothing, Regina had thought the end had arrived at last and was almost glad for it. Sure, she would miss Henry, would miss being his mother, would miss being there for all the milestones he had yet to achieve. But a part of her was still glad to see it all end… The pain, the loneliness, the isolation finally gone, so she could be free.

The darkness wasn't the end, though.

At first, Regina had been sure she had reached some form of afterlife. Nothing but weightlessness, darkness and waiting. It was a daunting prospect. Then, the darkness had brightened and trees crowded her sight once more. Not Neverland trees, though. Enchanted Forest trees. No matter which way she turned, there were only trees. They were green and lush, leaves gently dancing with the wind.

No sounds, though.

There were no birds, no mice. She couldn't hear the leaves or even the wind. It was a strange sensation, almost like a large blast had happened near her ears, rendering her deaf. It wasn't exactly bad. It was disconcerting, though.

Regina moved this way and that way and finally attempted to take a step. She did not hear the fabric move, but she certainly felt it. A quick, surprised look down revealed her to be wearing a long dress made of midnight blue. Up her gaze went, taking stock of the long sleeves and white undershirt she also wore. As far as dresses went, it was rather simple and more something she would have worn before becoming queen. The color, on the other hand, wasn't something her innocent, adolescent self would have been allowed to wear.

_Strange…_

Curious about the rest of her altered appearance, she allowed her hands to trace her face and down her hair. Nothing noteworthy on her face, though it was hard to tell only by touch, but the hair was definitely different. It was long, all the way down to her waist and tucked in at the sides. Definitely a style more suited to young Regina than the elaborate hairdos she was forced to wear later on and the dramatic styling she had adopted as the Evil Queen.

A frown blossomed on her forehead and again, Regina glanced around. This was most certainly not how she had imagined afterlife to be like.

_What is going on?_

Her mouth moved and in some odd way, she felt as if she had spoken. The forest remained silent, though. Maybe she was deaf, after all.

A moving bush caught her attention and she watched - a little afraid and a little hopeful - for someone to appear. It turned out, unfortunately, to be only a small, brownish rabbit, which paid her no mind. In fact, it darted past her as if she posed him no threat. Perhaps, she didn't. It was quite possible that she wasn't even there in the physical sense of the word.

_Could ghosts be real?_

Regina sincerely hoped not.

One foot forward, then another. She picked up her long skirt and started trekking towards a direction chosen at random. She felt that staying still, no sounds, no interaction, no nothing, might just be enough to drive her even more insane than she had ever been. Moving, therefore, was the only option.

xxxxxxxx

Robin had been many people over the years, had bore many names. From Robert, to Robin. From Locksley to simply Hood. He had been a son, a nobleman, a runaway, a thief, a husband. No description had ever felt so right, though, than that of _father_. It defined him. It made him happy.

He was a proud to be a father. Roland's father.

And now Roland was gone, taken by a shadow into another world, because he had been irresponsible enough to allow the Dark One's son to use his little Roland to summon the devil himself. Robin felt so mad, so frustrated!, he could rightly hit a tree and not stop until there were no bones left in his hands.

What would that do for Roland, though?

Now wasn't the time to be selfish. His son needed him to keep it together, find a portal to this Neverland world and safely bring him back home. Simple as that and it was exactly what he was going to do. His first course of action to achieve that had been raiding the Dark Castle top to bottom looking for anything capable of making a portal.

He only found a journal by the previous owner which catalogued portal making.

It was far from what he had been looking for, but it was a step closer to getting there and therefore, not a waste of time. The next course of action would be raiding other places… Palaces of wicked fairies, powerful sorcerers and evil queens. There had to be a way!

Currently, Robin and his loyal, merry men were trekking the thick forest surrounding the Evil Queen's castle. The trees themselves seemed to want to make their journey harder, though the forest was in itself well illuminated and pleasant. Magic, he was sure, was somehow involved.

Their advance was slow, due to the trees and the horses' frightened countenance, and they were forced to walk rather than ride. Little John, his longest and most trusted friend, took the lead, cutting away foliage and looking around as if the Evil Queen herself would jump up at them and make them drop like flies.

The thought made him shudder.

It was only as his body continued to shudder that Robin realized something was wrong. He stopped walking, halting his horse's progress as well and quickly searched their surroundings. Though nothing was visibly amiss, something was off about this place.

"Little John!" The man in question stopped and turned to face him.

"What is it, Robin?"

Robin continued to glance around, sure something would, in fact, jump out at them. Still, he saw nothing. It must have been magic, then. Something that could not be seen, but surely something his instincts warned him about. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and opened them again.

A gasp, a step back, an exposed root and a well placed rock.

Robin Hood retreated on instinct, tripped and fell. He would have been embarrassed, had he not been too unconscious to think about it.

xxxxxxx

Henry paced the beaten ground of the forest as the group awaited Neal and Rumple's return. They were at a clearing, the same one the original rescue group had used as a home base of sorts, and he couldn't sit still if his life depended on it. He was tired of waiting! He was so tired of things happening and people getting hurt.

It may not be something normal eleven year olds readily admitted to, but all Henry wanted at that moment, was Regina there to hold him close. He wanted his mom.

A sound to his right drew his attention and in the blink of an eye, Emma was in front of him, holding up a sword. Henry noticed how very jumpy she had been ever since they found each other again.

"Who's there?!", she shouted and they could all hear the soft whimper that came as a response.

A small head appeared from behind a tree, face scared and brave all at once. A small body soon followed as a toddler stepped into their line of sight. He wore a sleeping gown that made the group place him as an Enchanted Forest child. He seemed too clean to have been wandering the jungle long.

Emma still kept her sword up, while her parents lowered their own weapons down. Hook kept his distance, as did Tinkerbell, unsure about any boy on this island, no matter how young. Snow stepped closer to the small boy and they all could see how his first reaction was to want to flee, but he held his position, watching her carefully.

"Hello there… I'm Snow." She lowered her body on bended knees and offered her empty, open palms as a sign of non aggression. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Roland", the boy answered, eyes darting between Snow and the rest of the group wearily. "Are you lost, too?"

Henry ignored his mother's suspicions, Hook and Tink's cautioness and David's attempt to hold him back. Calmly, so as not to frighten the young boy, he walked closer to Snow and Roland.

"Hi, Roland… I'm Henry." He crouched beside his grandmother and smiled at Roland. "I was lost, too, but my family found me."

"They did?"

Henry nodded. "Yes, they did. Now, I'm trying to help my mom, 'cause she was hurt."

"My mommy was hurt, too. She is with the gods now… Daddy says so." It was clear that Roland took to Henry, for the small boy stepped closer to him.

"Where is your daddy, Roland?" Snow asked and Roland shied away from her, moving closer to Henry.

"'enwy… did the shadow get you, too?"

Not wanting to lie, but not wanting to say something that could create a difference between them, either, Henry decided to change the subject."Roland… do you know where you are from?"

The boy nodded. "'chanted folest..."

"Really?" Roland nodded again. "You see Snow? She's a Queen in the Enchanted Forest. And you see that man there? He's my grandpa and he's a king."

Roland placed his hand on Henry's shoulder and glanced at the people Henry was pointing too. He looked more shy than nervous, so it seemed Henry was making progress.

"So… do you know what your daddy is?"

"My daddy."

Henry chuckles at that reply and tried to act natural as he placed his arm around Roland. "Well. David is my grandpa and he is also king. And before that, he was a sheppard. Your daddy, was he something else, too?"

Roland nodded, making the bangs fall on his eyes. He pushed them away with the back of his hand and even Hook had to admit the boy was kind of adorable.

"My daddy is a mewy man and an _acher_!"

"_Acher_?" Snow pondered, before the meaning of the word made her smile with clarity. "An archer!"

"Yes! The best." Roland was smiling and freely leaning against Henry at that point. He turned serious, though, when he stared at Snow. "He's coming for me. Daddy is going to finded me."

"Oh, honey, of course he is", Snow placated him. "But in the mean time, you can stay with us and we'll protect you until your daddy comes to get you, alright?"

Roland looked reluctant at first. He stared at Henry, glanced at the others and then nodded.


	4. An anchor has anchored the anchor away

**A/N:** So, I was supposed to work. Really, I was. But it is so hot today and I feel so uninspired to do anything work-related. This was the result.

Thanks for the reviews, specially _Shahrezad1 _(I hope your mustache is groomed for this) and _freedomqueen. _Your guesses were great, but I think I still have some aces up my sleeve. Hope you keep reading!

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**CHAPTER 3: An anchor has anchored the anchor away**

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_The Enchanted Forest_

_Long ago_

Robin sat perched on a tree, the position long since natural to this career thief and outlaw, and watched the lavish carriage approach. It was light, probably white under that coat of road dust. Its trimmings were surely worth more than most people had to eat all year and just thinking about it made him angry.

_Was it really necessary to spend so much in something so frivolous?_

It was neither the time, nor the place for such anger, though. He was getting ready to alleviate some pesky noble of his travelling riches. The thrill of it all allowed him to let go of his anger towards the injustice of social inequality and Robin found himself grinning.

With a low sound in his throat, he signaled Little John, so his dear friend could work on the distraction. A tree was to innocently stage a fall in the middle of the road right before their targets could get through, thus trapping them unexpectedly and leaving them vulnerable to the pickings of the merry men.

Except the tree didn't fall and the carriage continued on its way. Careful not to attract attention to himself, Robin retraced his original steps and seeked out Little John.

"John! What happened?"

The large man shrugged. "I do not know, Robin. Reckon I m'scalculated the trunk of this stubborn tree. Dense as metal and won't be cut."

Robin felt a twinge of disappointment, but easily let it go. There would be other rich men, other carriages and other pouches of old to be liberated. This one carriage wouldn't make that much of a difference in his plans, he found himself thinking.

xxxxxxx

_Present time_

Regina was trying not to panic. Really, she was, and what a marvelous effort it proved to be, she thought, directing thick sarcasm to herself as panic coursed through her veins and made breathing hard. She couldn't hear a thing, couldn't really touch anything but the solid ground beneath her feet and apparently, she couldn't be seen as well.

For surely, not all the many men surrounding her could turn out to be blind.

She watched as they congregated around the man who had stumbled and fallen and by the surprised looks on their faces, Regina could only guess that it was not a normal occurrence for this man to be so clumsy. Having missed his stumble and consequential fall, since she had been trying to touch a tall man in the front of the group to get his attention, she couldn't imagine why a normal man would faint like that.

And still, she was hyperventilating.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Several times, she repeated this mantra, trying to calm her racing heart. It took some long seconds - enough for the fallen man to start rousing -, but she finally felt the panic recede. With her head a little clearer, it finally occurred to Regina that the reason the man had jumped back could have been the very sight of her.

_Could he have seen her when none of the others could?_

Curious, and yet still tightly controlling the hope in her chest, the former queen approached the circle of men and the one man in question she wanted to get in her sights. Again, she attempted to touch shoulders and call out to get anyone's attention. Again, she went completely ignored. When the fallen man finally came into view, she thought him remarkably average. He was rubbing the back of his dark blond head and was dressed just like all the other men around him, like commoners.

"R-n! What happened?" The tall guy who had been leading the man through the forest was the first to speak. Regina couldn't hear him, sadly, but she managed to get the gist of his words by watching him speak.

"Hell if I know…" Now, the man's reply she did hear and it was such a strange sound, when all she could hear was utter silence, that Regina startled and gasped. More than that, she heard herself gasping. "I think I…"

Whatever it was the man had intended to say, it died on his lips the minute he raised his eyes and met hers. He frowned and then opened his eyes wide. With his mouth hanging open, she could almost think this was amusing, if only her brain wasn't much too occupied with trying to figure it out why only this man, out of all the others, could see her.

"I think I'm hallucinating." The men around them turned curious and even worried glances at that statement. Regina only felt annoyed. She may not be one hundred percent sure where she was and how she had gotten there, but one thing was certain, she was very much real.

"I can assure you I'm not a hallucination." Again, she marvelled at the sound of her own voice. The sounds of the forest remained quiet, though. "I just wonder why you can see me when others can't."

"Magic…" He whispered, rising to his feet.

"The obvious. What I would like to you is what is it that makes you different. You look completely normal and average to me." She saw how his eyes narrowed at her not so complimentary words and she couldn't care less.

"Aren't you a pleasant one, milady", was his sarcastic reply.

Regina could finally see that others around them were trying to catch the man's attention. If they really couldn't see her, it was no wonder they felt worried.

"Well, if I'm unpleasant… and a hallucination, I wonder at your sanity, if you are seeing and talking to me." He was frowning at her and still had his eyes in slits, when the big guy from before approached him, grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him hard.

Regina snickered at that and made no attempt to hide it when the man shot a glare her way. No matter her venomous words and posture, she was actually glad to be rid of the silence, even if this couth, strange man was the only one to break it. Now, if only she could connect the dots in the right order and start shedding some light in this after-life of hers, she'd be much calmer.

If she was dead at all.

xxxxxx

"Robin!"

Robin Hood turned away from the annoying woman and faced his long time friend. "Little John, I'm okay. I saw something that startled me and I tripped on an exposed root."

"You are acting strange, Robin, talking to yourself. Did you hit your head?" John's gruf hands palmed the back of his head and met his bump none too gently.

"Yes, but I can assure I was seeing things before that. I…" He glanced at the woman again, and noticed how she was frowning at them, almost like she had trouble understanding something. "I believe it's magic." He faced John again. "We are at the Evil Queen's forest, after all."

John nodded and seemed to accept his answer, though his look remained weary. "And what exactly are you seeing?"

"What every man sees when faced with an enchanted spirit, my friend! A beautiful woman!" His attempt at levity fell flat. The merry man all stepped back and drew their swords, while the woman's frown intensified.

"The Evil Queen!" There were shouts of fear and caution. Robin stepped closer to the woman, offered her a smile - they did get off to a bad start, after all - and offered her his hand. She stepped back from him, though.

"Witch!"

"Robin, maybe this is a bad idea…"

"We can find Roland another way…"

"This place is cursed!"

Throughout the cacophony of scared men, Robin observed how the woman glanced from side to side, staring at Ned and then at William, then at Little John. There seemed to be something wrong.

"Milady? Is something the matter?" He didn't try to get closer again.

"I… I can't hear what they're saying." She seemed to come to her senses after that unsure sentence and he watched as her spine grew straighter and her face calmer. It was a very well crafted mask, but Robin could see it was a mask nonetheless. "You must have some sort of magical trigger, otherwise you wouldn't see me."

She stepped deliberately forward and it was Robin's turn to grow weary. "Are you a sorcerer? Have you a talisman? Or some sort of magical amulet?" Closer she came and Robin noticed that his fellow men had stopped all sound and movement to observe his tense posture.

"I have no magic, milady, nor have I any talisman or amulet with me. What do you mean, tou can't hear them?"

"Then how…?"

"Well…" he stopped his retreat and watched her curiously. She seemed very menacing, the way she moved, spoke and looked. Underneath it all, though, she was nothing if not scared and he could relate to that. "I think we got off the wrong foot." He bowed, to show respect. "I'm Robin Hood and this is the Northern Kingdom." He made sure to leave his face open and friendly. "And you, milady?"

The woman couldn't be fooled by nice manners or a friendly smile, though. A dark cloud descended upon her face and she stepped closer to him, until all his personal space was taken by her very powerful presence.

"I am Regina, rightful Queen to the Northern Kingdom and you, Robin Hood, are a thief and currently loitering in my forest!" It seemed his reputation preceded him.

The truth of her words took a couple of seconds to sink in and when they did, Robin started to feel the apprehension his men had some moments before. Before him, grinning in a very menacing manner, was none other, than the Evil Queen herself.

"I must have triggered some sort of protection spell the Queen placed in this forest." He stepped back and glanced around, sure he would find some marking or something to tell him some border had been crossed. "But I wasn't the one in the front, Little John was…"

"I am not some enchanted spirit or magical manifestation! I am the Evil Queen!"

Robin looked at her again, his fear dissipating. He had a son to save and no time for this nonsense. "The Queen cast a curse and disappeared with half of the Enchanted Forest to some other helm, Regina."

He was about to invade her own personal space, to give her a taste of her own medicine, when Robin heard the galloping sound of a horse approaching. All the men fell into protective stances again, until Mulan rode in. She dismounted quickly and ran to him.

"Robin! No sign of anything regarding portals on the Dark Fairy's Castle. No sign of her either." Robin sighed, sure something could have been found in Maleficent's not so humble abode. He refused to believe - though the places they could easily look were dwindling to a small, disheartening number -, that Roland was lost to him forever. "I'm sorry, Robin."

"It is not your fault, Mulan." Robin glanced at Regina, whose arms were crossed and whose eyes stared curiously at Mulan. "My friend, do me a favour and tell me if you see another woman here with us."

Mulan looked around carefully, not fully understanding his request, then turned back to face him. "I see no woman here beside me, Robin. What is the meaning of this question?"

Robin didn't have the chance to answer, before Ned stepped forward. "It seems our fearless leader has awaken some sort of enchanted spirit. A woman."

Robin rolled his eyes and then his head. At least they didn't believe him completely short of his marbles, though that could change at any moment, since he, himself, started to question his grasp on sanity. "Not any woman… The Evil Queen."

Mulan took it all in stride. Not bothering to glance around since her practical nature would dictate that if she could not see it, anyway, why bother looking, the warrior put all her attention on Robin. He felt the intensity of her stare as she asked him about it.

"What does she look like?"

Frowning, he stepped closer to his new friend. "Did you know the Queen?"

Her slight shake of head indicated that she did not. "I have seen a portrait of her, though, in Maleficent's castle. It is old, when she had just married King Leopold, but she can't have changed that much, right?"

Robin turned and saw how Regina was squinting at Mulan. That's when he remebered what she had said before, about not being able to hear other people.

"Milady? Can you hear her?" She turned his way and he was caught wondering how her face could look so emotionless, when her eyes told so much.

"No. I can't hear the other men, this Mulan woman or any other sound. At all." She leaned forward at that, head dipping down and making her eyes bigger. "What did she say?"

"That she hasn't met you-" Regina snorted and Robin rolled his eyes at that, though otherwise ignored her reaction. "... But that she has seen your likeness in Maleficent's castle, where she has just been to."

Wasting no time to allow her to dispense more venom or distract him from solving this quickly, Robin met Mulan's gaze. "She is pretty, with dark hair and dark eyes. She is not tall. Her lips are not wide, but they are plum and there is a scar on her upper lip. Her figure is also small, almost fragile, yet strong." He chanced a glance at the woman in question, surprised to note she seemed startled at his description.

"Seems like her, but it is vague enough to be a lot of other women", Mulan sighed. "What does she want?"

"Mulan would like to know what is it you want?"

"Want?" Regina echoed, confused and affronted. "I don't want anything but to figure out why I'm some sort of ghost and why only you can see me!"

"Uh…", Robin fought for words to explain this to Mulan. "She doesn't know why and how she is like this or why I'm the only one that can see her. She would like to find out."

"What is her last memory? Perhaps she does not know she is merely an enchanted spirit put here by the real Queen."

Robin had his mouth open, ready to speak, when Regina beat him to it, apparently getting more adept at reading lips. "I am the real Queen", she seethed.

Further contemplation, though, must have convinced her that the question had merit, for she required no more prompting to actually answer the query. "I was in Neverland. The last I remember was my son."

xxxxxx

Robin's head turned so fast in her direction, it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash and faint again. Regina stood her ground as he stalked towards her, his posture and stance so different from what it had been only moments before, that he seemed to be a completely different man. Darker somehow. More focused. He invaded her space as she had done to him and there was nothing amusing or playful to his face.

"Neverland?"

She nodded and tilted her head sideways, contemplating his narrow minded focus. The land of Peter Pan meant something to this man. Regina was so lost in thought, that she missed the dangerous glint to his eyes. Faster than she had been able to contemplate herself immune to it, he had her shoulders in a firm grip. Robin Hood was actually touching her as if she was solid and real.

"And how did you get here? How do I get there?!"

Not exactly scared, though still smart enough to be cautious, Regina made her body go limp. He was a strong man, after all, and more than capable of physically overpowering her. Magic so far had been beyond her ability and she hadn't tested it again since meeting this man and all the changes that had occurred since.

"Peter Pan took my son away from home, trapped him Neverland and tried to end his life. That is why I was in Neverland and why probably why I'm here now." Some of the steam left Robin and his hands stopped gripping her shoulders so tightly. There was something haunting behind his eyes, Regina could recognize well. "Why do you want to go to Neverland?"

"I agreed to help the Dark One's son and in doing so, put my son in danger. Roland was taken to this Neverland place." He let go of her completely and Regina tried not to step back as instincts would have her do. "I have to get him back."

There was fire and determination in his eyes. All things she was sure had been in her own eyes when she had set out on the Jolly Roger to rescue Henry. In that moment, Robin Hood stopped being ordinary in her eyes. She would help him get to Neverland and his son and that just might help her as well in getting to Henry or at least discovering why she had not died as she was supposed to. Her son may as well be still in danger and Regina could hardly trust Snow White and her useless prince to protect him, even if Emma was there as well.

She had to be sure Henry was okay.

"I'll help you get there, Robin Hood. And I'm going with you."

Just when she thought the end had arrived, there seemed to be a new journey ahead of her. And she was so tired of it all.

_Would it never end?_


	5. Of plans unknown and mysterious spirits

**ATTENTION! This is a new chapter 4!**

This chapter got lost when posting (because I wrote it together with chapter 5) and when a reviewer asked me about a detail, I went to check if some paragraph had been left behind. But a whole chapter!

Forgive the absentmindness and I hope you read this!

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**CHAPTER 4: Of plans unknown and mysterious spirits**

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Neal sat by the fire, watching his son and the younger boy talking in hushed whispers. Ever since his return with his father, the boy had been all he could think about. Roland was in Neverland… Young, innocent Roland had been taken by the Shadow and that meant that somewhere in the Enchanted Forest, an angry Robin was going out of his mind.

And it was all his fault.

Neal shook his head and pushed his fingers through his matted hair. It was times like this, that he wondered if he had really fallen as far from the parental tree as he had wished to be. No matter where he went, only trouble and destruction followed. Wasn't that what his father did? The curse was, essentially, his fault. Emma had been to prison because he had been too much of a coward. His son had been given away, because he had abandoned his mother without even glancing back. Tamara and Greg and Regina's torture. Henry and Neverland. And now Roland and Robin.

Maybe he wasn't so different from his papa after all.

xxxxxx

Mulan had seen the exact moment that Robin's good natured humor had turned focused and deadly. She couldn't hear the other side of this strange conversation he seemed to be having with the Evil Queen's enchanted spirit, but the smart warrior understood enough to know that this had suddenly stopped being about the Evil Queen spells. It was all about Roland once again.

She knew Robin was capable of moving fast. She had seen him shoot as many arrows as she had fingers in the blink of an eye. Even still, Mulan was surprised when he had shot forward and grasped thin air as if it was solid, angry words spewing from his lips. And she was even more startled to realize, that he no longer spoke to some strange apparition only he could see. There, in color and very much real, was the Evil Queen, allowing herself to be manhandled and looking almost bored with it. The dangerous woman opened her mouth and Mulan could hear her strong voice echoing around them.

"I'll help you get there, Robin Hood. And I'm going with you."

"And how do you propose to get to Neverland?"

Wide brown eyes turned to face her, accompanied by a shocked pair of blue orbs. The Queen and Robin stared at her silently, obviously not prepared for her participation in their little game of back and forth.

"Yes, I can see her and she is definitely the Queen as I saw her in that likeness", she addressed Robin, who she considered a friend. Next, she directed all her attention to Regina and bowed her head slightly in respect. It wouldn't do to upset a royal for something as petty as etiquette when they had Roland to focus on. "You said you could take us there… How?"

The Queen's composure was quickly regained and Mulan felt a streak of real respect for the woman. She ignored all the other gawking faces that stared at her with fear and surprise in favour of meeting Mulan's gaze head on.

"Travelling through worlds is difficult, but not impossible. Some realms are harder to access, but Neverland is not one of them." Regina faced Robin next. "You said we are near my castle?"

Legs apart, arms crossed over his chest and jaw shut tight, Robin merely nodded in the affirmative.

"Good." Mulan stepped next to Robin and felt Little John approach Robin's other side. The bigger man must be as trusting of this woman as she was, which wasn't all that much. "I'll need to go there and see what has survived the curse and general pillage."

"The Dark One's son mentioned mirrors, shoes, beans… You have any of those things?" Robin questioned, maintaining his posture.

"Maybe… And you can say his name. Neal."

None were shocked to see her know that particular name.

"Neal…" Robin nodded and Mulan felt some sort of understanding pass between the pair. It was odd to see, considering who these people were. "Let's go. We are wasting daylight as it were."

The merry men - looking none too merry - gave the Queen a wide berch. She, Mulan and Robin followed Little John's tall frame as the loyal man trekked through the thick foliage, unquestioning of his leader's decision to trust the Evil Queen of all people.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"How real are you?"

Regina had been so amazed at the sounds of the forest and their feet against the dirt and their breathing, that Robin's voice near her ear actually made her startle. She did not jump, for she had never been jumpy, but the small gasp that left her lips betrayed her surprise at hearing his question.

"How… real?" She chanced a quick glance his way and realized that his eyes were set forward as hers had been. His question wasn't a matter of curiosity only. "I shouldn't be real. I shouldn't be alive… But I can feel the ground beneath my feet, the fabric of this ridiculous dress around my ankles and the air around me. I wasn't able to hear anything before you first spoke to me, but now I hear everything. I can be touched - as you have proved - and I can touch…" She brushed her hand against the bark of a passing tree to prove her point. "And I-"

Magic.

She had been so distracted by her senses being on overload, that she had actually forgotten to test her magic once more. It may not have worked before, but so much had changed since that moment, that another attempt was more than recommended.

With a graceful twist of her wrist and a small wave of her fingers, she willed fire to appear in her hand. Nothing. She put more focus onto it, recalling her first attempt to manipulate the elements, back when she had been an apprentice. Still, nothing.

"-I cannot do magic."

"So, you are real. Yet, it is impossible that you are real." Mulan spoke from her other side, though she too remained with her eyes glued to the path being created for them. "Why should you be dead?"

Regina contemplated this new companions of her. In reality, she shouldn't be revealing anything to them. Not about her limitations and definitely not about her magic. And yet, here she was, speaking without reservations and willing to help another boy that was not her son and whom she had actually never met. It was a strange feeling to realize you are not yourself anymore. To realize that you have changed so suddenly and yet so slowly that it completely escaped your notice.

Henry would have been proud.

With a smile tugging at the corner of her lips at the thought of her son, she answered Mulan's inquiry. "I sacrificed my own heart to save my son. To do so, would mean my certain demise." Yes, she shouldn't be here at all. "I know my sacrifice worked, which means I did die."

"And yet here you are…"

"Here I am", she echoed Robin's words. "But how?"

Her feet stopped walking and she made an about face to meet Robin head on. He was taller than she by a considerate height and her flat shoes didn't help any. Still, she felt oddly… safe, even if his eyes remained menacing and hard.

"What?", he questioned, arms coming up to cross over his chest again in a posture that was becoming familiar.

"I died. I died in Neverland." She searched his eyes to see if he was capable of following her reasoning. "You said that I was an enchanted spirit."

"Aye. And you said you were real."

"I wonder, though. The spell I casted, the sacrifice I made. It was absolute. Only powerful magic could have retained a part of me in this world. I am not real…", she whispered to herself, turning again to face Little John, who had paused several feet in front of them. "I am not real. I am not the Queen, or Regina, or the woman who was in Neverland. My hair's all wrong, this dress, this place and you!"

Four paces forward and Regina realized Little John hadn't resumed his trekking. His eyes weren't even on her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Mulan staring at her and Robin staring at the ground near her feet. "Me… Why was I the only one to see you? Why did other's see you when I touched you?"

He met her eyes and Regina felt the intensity of his gaze all the way down to the bottom of her spine. "Have we met before?"

She didn't dismiss his question outright as her instinct told her to do. His words had merit and she had contemplated them herself. Even if she was an enchanted spirit activated by the real Regina's death, it remained a strange and scary mystery her connection to this man. She was sure she had never seen him before. "No… I don't think so."

In silence, they walked once more, lost in their own thoughts and doubts. Regina felt a sense of hopelessness to consider herself a mere manifestation of the real woman she had once been. She wondered at the spell keeping this part of her alive and worried about its caster.

Who would want to preserve her thus?

xxxxxx

Neal had recognized Roland and though the boy paid him little attention, preferring to play with Henry, Emma could see that he had recognized Neal as well. The fact that the father of her son chose to remain quiet about it, told her that something was very wrong with this situation. She plopped beside her former lover, who kept staring at the fire and checked on Henry, as she had been doing every other minute since Regina had brought him back.

"So… you going to share or should I start to guess?" Neal sighed and didn't have a chance to say a word, before Snow and David made an appearance and sat beside them.

"Yes… I think it's time you started telling us the whole story here, Neal. We deserve to know", Snow spoke, eyes as focused on the man as David's were.

"Robin Hood… Robin Hood is his father. And he's here because I was selfish and convince his father that having Rolan summon the Shadow was the only way I was going to make it to Neverland to save Henry." The words rushed out and Emma felt her eyes getting rounder and rounder.

"Robin… freaking… Hood?" Emma sighed and met Henry's gaze on the other side of the pyre. They were close enough that her son could see them converse, but not close enough for him to hear the words being spoken. Still, he had understanding eyes and Emma wondered if he knew more than he was saying.

Snow opened and closed her mouth several times. "The thief? The one who crusaded for the poor in the Western Kingdom?"

Emma shook her head, disbelieving. A small laugh escaped her throat. "He is the best archer, after all, huh, Roland?", she whispered to herself.

David leaned forward. "I have these conflicting memories in my mind. I know he was a fairytale character like us in the world without magic and yet I remember him being a thorn in King George's side… a noble turned rogue, so to speak." He bumped his shoulder against his wife at the similarities between Robin Hood and herself.

"He seemed a noble man and I… I let him down." Neal rubbed his face hard and sighed. "He is probably searching for a way to Neverland to skin me alive."

"Robin Hood? That thief!" Rumple appeared silently, as he had the bad habit of doing and Emma rolled her eyes at his antics, even as she searched Henry's face once more. She might have been willing to have Gold help them regain her son's heart, but she was not so gullible as to believe his intentions were all that good.

"You know of him?", she asked, eyes not leaving her son.

"Of him? Dearie, I know him." Rumple made no move to sit beside them, choosing to stand, hands clasped in front of him as if he still had his cane to lean on.

"He said he owed you a debt…" Neal turned his eyes to his father, trying to contain the distrust he still felt from showing too much. "Which, as you recall, you are no longer owed to, since I collected." Neal leaned forward, using his legs to support his arms. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Emma noticed how very fake, Rumplestiltskin's innocent act seemed. "I did nothing! That thief broke into my castle, stole a wand and almost absconded with Belle!"

Emma found the idea of it all amusing. Almost too much so. Would the neverending list of fairytale characters ever stop popping into her life as if it were the most normal thing in the world, she wondered.

"And you let him live… Why?" David wasn't smirking or smiling, yet Emma could see her father was just as amused as she was. And that worried her. When had they started to consider Rumplestiltskin and Regina's acts as amusing instead of dangerous?

"Belle took compassion upon him. The debt he owes is to her… not me." And that made a lot of sense to the savior. Belle was the epitome of kindness, after all.

"So, the boy is Robin Hood's. At least we know that much. It's only going to be a matter of finding a way to deliver the boy back to his father", she spoke, eyes again on her son. "But right now, our priority is Henry's heart and Regina."

Emma turned her eyes to Rumple and offered him a pointed glare. It was high time he told them of his plan. The man in question nodded back at her and this time, he took a seat by the fire with them.

"For us to take Henry's heart back, it will be a simple matter of removing it from Pan's chest. The problem is getting close to Pan in the first place. And that is where my plan comes in… Only I can't tell you what it is."

Emma eyes him warily and shared a look with Snow. Neal sported a look of anger and was surely getting ready to explode. Only David remained as he had been, only now he was slowly nodding in agreement. Emma glared his way.

"Think about it, Emma. Pan is everywhere, ears to the ground, in the air and all around us." He paused and Snow took the opportunity to nod at him, acquiescing to his logic. "The only way we are getting the upper hand here is to have a plan he knows nothing about."

"I don't like this", Emma answered and then immediately felt like a sulky teenager for it. Regina had put her own life down for the chance to save Henry. She would be a bad mother to even consider risking the recovery of her son's heart. "But I can see the logic behind it."

Neal huffed as Emma had wanted to do just minutes before and quickly rose to his feet. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that once you have Henry's heart, you'll be able to control him and even get rid of him, right, papa?"

"Actually, I could crush that heart to ash and it would not affect Henry at all", Rumple rebutted, finally sounding miffed at the accusation, instead of heartbroken about it.

"Regina", Snow whispered.

"Yes, dearie. Regina. She didn't simply offer up her heart. She gave her son her own life. If necessary, Henry can lead a perfectly normal life with her heart inside his chest, completely separate from his original heart." It was the old man's turn to search out his grandson over the fire. "And she did more than that…"

"What?", Emma asked, inching closer.

"She put a protective spell of him. His heart, his shadow and his life are forever protected. The only thing Henry has to fear if time itself."

"How?"

"She used her love to surround him completely and cleanse the heart she gave him. It is a pure heart now, Miss Swan. A heart dipped in True Love." He met Emma's gaze and nodded at the look of understanding she now wore. "Exactly like you, Miss Swan."

"Okay… So, we don't have to worry about Henry like that. What do you need us to do to make this plan of yours work?"

"I need you and your parents to shoot against Pan the next time he appears. Not kill him, just main a little." With his voice like that and the small ounce of glee behind his words, Emma could well imagine him being an imp most of the Enchanted Forest had feared.

"Okay." Emma rose and leaned forward to bring her nose close to the man that could have well been her father in law. "You pull any fast tricks, though, and I'll be the first in line with that dagger to end your miserable life. And don't think I'm making empty threats here. I am not my parents."

With that she got back up to her full height and went to Henry, who observed her with a sad smile on his face. Emma didn't look back and she didn't have to. The savior well knew how this merry little gang of their would react to her words.


	6. Blasts through worlds and ill conce

**A/N: **Already working on next chapter. This actually spent some time, finished, in my computer, as I planned the rest of the story. I wanted to consolidate some facts, before posting. I hope everyone has a great new year, with lots of reading and writing and fun. And work, coz that's inevitable.

Also, continue reviewing. You guys are awsome. ;D

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**Chapter 5: Blasts through worlds and ill conceived plans**

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_Enchanted Forest_

_Past_

Queen Regina, of the Northern Kingdom, was considered to be a beauty among all the queens of the Enchanted Forest. She rarely appeared in public, so it was considered a real treat to see her at the annual ball King Leopold offered the noble men of his land. No one refused an invitation. And even if some felt uncomfortable with the praise the king lavished upon his daughter - though she certainly was a beauty as well - few could claim to have witnessed the Queen upset about it. If some noticed, with the passing years, that the Queen grew quieter and more reserved, no one commented on it.

Robert Locksley, a minor noble of the Southern Kingdom, was to accompany his parents to the ball and had had to endure long hours of fittings and his mother's fussing to be deemed presentable. Reaching an age that it was considered fashionable for young men to start courting seriously, Robin knew it would only be a matter of time before his parents arranged him an appropriate marriage to some noble girl. He could sigh all evening, just thinking about it.

It was understandable that he was not looking forward to the ball and had little interest in seeing the mysterious queen.

A necessary deviation from the road to prevent ice patches. A brief piece of journey through the Western Kingdom. A girl being roughed up by King George's knights. A baby crying in hunger by the side of the road. A suspiciously well placed old man with all the right words to inflame a brave young man into standing up to the injustice of the world.

Suffice it to say that Robin never made it to that year's ball. Or any other after that.

When news of King Leopold's death reached his ears, Robin was too busy courting a young maiden by the name of Marian to give the newly widowed queen much thought.

xxxxx

Henry hated the waiting.

He hated sitting around doing nothing and waiting for things to happen. Hated even more the fact that his family kept staring at him incessantly as if he might up and disappear on them. The truth, though, was that this was their best plan. Well, their only plan. And as long as they managed to save his mom, he was willing to wait however long it took for Pan to try to get to him again.

They had all been tense and quiet and waiting for so long that it actually took Henry a couple of minutes to realize that no one was moving… At all. Snapping his head quickly from right to left, Henry took in the stillness of the air and knew, without a doubt, that Pan was near. A tug at his hand showed to him that Roland wasn't being affected by whatever had frozen the adults.

"It's okay, Roland… I'll protect you."

"And who's going to protect you now?" Pan's voice echoed from all around and Henry couldn't quite pinpoint where he was.

"My mom!"

"Poor, poor Henry…" Pan appeared beside him, mouth close to his ears and Henry felt the chills of dread all the way down to the bottom of his spine. "Mommy is dead. Gone forever."

Wirling around, Henry tugged Roland closer and tried to face off Pan. But the never-aging boy was faster and was already crouching by Roland's side. "And you, little boy? All alone… Your mommy left you and now your daddy doesn't want you anymore."

"You a liar!" Roland screamed. He didn't seem scared or even angry, though, as one would have expected. Roland stood on his short legs, proud and tall, and looked Pan right in the eye. "My daddy's going to come and get me and Henwy's mommy is going to protect us from you. You are evil!"

Pan jumped to his feet and floated a few feet back in the air before landing on soft feet. His face sported a wide grin as he laughed loudly. "Me? Evil? Oh, that's rich. Specially if you think the Evil Queen is going to protect you, little Roland."

"She is! I know it!"

Henry pushed Roland behind him and straightened his back as he had seen his mother do. "What do you want, Pan? To taunt us?"

"I want…. you…", at that he pointed at Henry with a menacing finger. "... dead", the final word was whispered close to his ear and Henry had only time to jump and reach for Roland, before the small boy was being yanked from his grasp by Pan's fast hand.

Only the boy didn't go very far at all, for again Pan was being blasted away. Roland fell against Henry's adrenaline filled body and the adults by the fire all startled back into awareness by the gentle breeze that enveloped them all. Henry's eyes were wide with wonder as he lay on his back, Roland on his chest.

"Henry!" All the members of his family ran to him, shouting with concern.

"I'm alright!" The twelve year old shook his head and tried to rise. "Roland, you okay?"

"I tolded him…" Roland answered, wide grin on his face.

Snow, who had knelt by the boys, pushed a strand of Henry's wild hair out of his face, before doing the same to Roland. Even as she asked the small boy, her eyes remained on Henry, silently asking him about what had happened. "Told him what?"

"That his mommy was going to protet us til my daddy gits here", Roland told her proudly.

Emma was on their other side, checking her son for injuries. "Regina?"

"Emma, it was just like me! Pan tried to take Roland away and he was blasted clear off the clearing!" Henry accept her help in getting up, still keeping Roland with him. He had grown quite protective of the little boy. "And you were all, like… frozen in place! Not moving, at all."

"Regina's magic protect Roland?" Rumplestiltskin spoke, keeping some distance from the gaggle of royals by his grandson. He was frowning, as if confused.

"Yeah!" Seeing Rumple's frown, though, helped to diminish the boy's enthusiasm. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No… Not bad, just… strange." The older man's frown had melted into an inquisitive stare and Henry involuntarily tightened his hold on Roland. He didn't like the way the imp's eyes shone with some sort of understanding.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, dearie. Nothing." He smiled - and it was an empty smile like Pan himself - and waved his hand in a dismissing manner. "Just wild theories and conjectures at this point."

Henry wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but he didn't believe the man… at all.

xxxxxxxxx

The castle was just as she remembered it to be. The fading sun fell behind the horizon, casting gleaming light upon the silver structure of the spires surrounding the place she had once hated and later come to consider as home. No time, no curse and apparently no looters had managed to diminish its beauty.

"It is protected… " She met Mulan's inquiring gaze and then Robin's set jaw. "The spells and enchantments seem to have withstood it all."

"Let's go." Robin stated, forcing the group forward once more.

It only took them another half an hour to reach the gates, which stood closed. Robin's attempt to push them open was met with an electric current, which Regina had expected, but had no time to warn them about. It was strange, though, that the current was only enough to make the man flinch, when he was actually supposed to be blasted ten feet back from the iron guardians of the palace.

That made her frown and add another oddity to the growing list of things she could not explain about Robin Hood.

"How do we get in?" Mulan asked, not bothering to try the gates herself. Regina was really coming to admire the girl's practical nature.

"One of two ways… I try it first and then take the enchantment out. And if I can't, we'll double back and use the secret passageway", which she wasn't in a hurry to show to anyone.

Bracing herself and knowing her magic might as well fail her, Regina stepped forward to touched the gate with the tip of her fingers. A ripple could be seen forming from her touch and for the first time since waking up in the Enchanted Forest, Regina felt the magic coursing through her veins. The gates fell softly open before her and she couldn't contain the wide smile that spread across her lips.

"Does this mean you have your magic back?" The voice spoke much closer to her back then Regina had anticipated and the shiver she felt promenading up and down her back wasn't exactly uncomfortable. She forced herself not to look as she nodded.

"Then let's go."

Regina saw him stompíng forward, easily followed by Mulan and Little John, and she was almost tempted to see if the next enchantment would blast him properly this time. But that would have been petty and something the Evil Queen would have done. And she was determined not to be that person anymore.

"Wait!"

"Wait?!" Robin's face was red and he quickly invaded her personal space. "My son cannot wait more than he already has!"

She could understand his angst and edgy behavior, having been in his shoes not too long ago, with Henry missing and too little space in that jungle for Emma, Hook, herself and those two idiots. Still, she felt the anger rising up within her and couldn't quite control the outburst that followed his angry words.

"Yes, wait! Unless you prefer to be blasted back ten feet out of here, because you were too stupid to listen to my warning!"

"Go here, take the detour there! No, don't touch that rock!" He had invaded her personal space and she would have done the same if they hadn't already been facing almost nose to nose. "You are full of warnings that have delayed us by more than three hours!"

"Go on, then. See if you can do this without me", she whispered menacingly, her voice having lowered as she leaned even closer still.

He huffed and stepped back, but not before Regina felt the sparks of magic dancing over her arms. She frowned and added another item to the list, growing even more concerned. If she was indeed an enchanted spirit, Regina feared that Robin's very presence was dangerous to her continued existence. He must have some magic of his own, which may have started to interfere with the spell that had created her spirit - if he wasn't the creator of the spell himself - and that might mean that he could control her, if he so wished.

That, she was definitely not telling him. Ever.

"Stand behind me."

xxxxxxxx

The search of the castle was done in quick and efficient movements. Regina, after all, knew what she was looking for. The first item was a mirror, as tall as she was and encased in a simple silver frame. It may have looked inexpensive, but she knew better. The second item was a pouch of pixie dust she had long ago acquired and decided to save… one never knew when it might come in handy to own pixie dust.

With both these items in hand, Regina turned to face her companions. Robin, Mulan, Little John and four other men forming a semicircle around her. Robin had explained to her that his merry band was larger and that two other groups had been created to search for a way to find Roland, including two men who had stayed behind at the Dark Castle, just to be sure. Even with this reduced number, it was still more than the mirror could carry.

"Robin, there is only enough pixie dust for three people, if we want to save some for the return journey." She eyes pointedly their group. "You have to choose."

Robin returned to his arms crossed, legs apart stance and Regina had to suppress the desire to roll her eyes. The man was a conundrum and still managed to be completely predictable. "Do you count?"

And that blasted man kept asking good questions, too. Regina could hardly fault him for being smart, but she didn't have to like it. "I don't know. I might not even be able to cross realms, if the anchor to the spell that created me is here in the Enchanted Forest."

"We can't risk it, then. You are out of the short list."

Regina grew taller, her spine straightening impossibly high. "How dare you presume to tell me what I can or cannot do. This is my castle, my mirror and my pixie dust and I would like to see you try getting it all to work without my assistance."

Mulan, who hadn't interfered before in their disagreements, chose to step in at that moment. "If you cannot go with us, how will we return?"

"Who said I could not go? It is a mere supposition based on incomplete information", Regina hissed.

"But it is a possibility", Mulan rebutted. "So, we have to do this carefully and in a well planned out manner."

The former queen gave a slight nod, albeit a reluctant one. "Very well." She faced Robin, shot him a glare and continued. "I'll stay here and keep watch through the mirror." In his defense, Robin didn't gloat at her words.

"And the return journey?" His gruff words told Regina that he was neither happy nor satisfied with their argument.

"I'll teach you how to use the dust. It will be your responsibility, though, to keep it safe." He nodded briefly and Regina continued to try and manage her growing irritation with the man. He certainly rubbed her the wrong way.

"Mulan, Little John… are you in agreement to accompany me on this journey?" Both of his companions nodded silently. "Ned, please reach the other groups and update them on our situation. I believe it is best if you all reconvene at the castle." Ned also nodded. Robin glanced at Regina and she finally saw the suspicion he had been controlling until that moment. "Alisander, if you could remain here and guard the mirror?"

The tall, dark-haired man nodded. "No problem, Robin".

Regina's right eyebrow shot up. Of course the infuriating man would chose the only remaining man who seemed indifferent to her presence. The man was probably daft or stupid. Snorting, she rolled her eyes and then glared at the leader of this merry band. "Don't think for a second that I can be contained, Robin Hood. I may be only an enchanted spirit, but forget not what that means…"

"What does it mean?", Alisander asked, finally showing some brain activity in the slight glint of fear in his eyes.

"It means I need no sleep or food. That I may be solid, but can still go through walls. And that my magic is just as powerful as it was when I was made of flesh and blood." She punctuated each sentence with venom and mockery and was a bit ashamed to hear so much of the Evil Queen in her voice. Regina didn't back away, though, cold eyes piercing Alisander's.

The stupid man gulped, but didn't falter in his stance.

"Enough of this, Your Majesty." Regina turned her cold eyes to Robin and for a moment, considered not helping him at all. That is until she remembered that this was not about her or Robin Hood. This was about a little boy of four, who was lost and at Pan's mercy.

"We are not done here, peasant."

A glint of amusement broke through his grave stance and Robin allowed himself a brief upturn of the lips before turning serious again. "Very well. Now, if you may, your Majesty... teach me."

Regina went through the brief explanation, putting emphasis to the importance of focus when building a portal, less he wanted to find himself in Oz or another crazy realm. She taught him the necessary hand movements and how much powder to use against the reflected surface. She didn't have to repeat herself once and it was quite clear how much Robin took all of this seriously.

There was no time wasted in goodbyes. Robin followed her instructions to the letter and soon the mirror rippled and a portal was formed. Robin was just about to leap into it, when Regina grasped his arm. Ignoring the current dancing up and down her arm at the contact and the weakness the prolonged contact caused her, she met his eyes and told him in a curt manner.

"Be careful there. Boys can be as vicious as warriors. Pan may seem like a boy as well, but he is powerful and deadly." She paused and finally let go of his arm, the draining strength coming to be too much for her to withstand. "Get Roland, find a reflective surface that stands still and get back." Robin nodded and turned to jump, when her voice echoed once more. It was softer, though, and low as a whisper.

"And… if you run into Henry… my son… tell him I love him... more than anything in the world."

Robin didn't turn to face her, but his small nod was enough for Regina to understand that the message had been received and her request accepted. Without an ounce of hesitation, the man jumped through the portal, soon followed by Little John and Mulan, who wielded her sword as if ready to fight.

Regina had only a second to register the burst of pain in her chest, before the ground shifted and everything turned black.


	7. Unmeeting at the meeting point

**A/N: **And here we are with more. No need to drop your jaws, folks. A fluke, I tell you! A fluke! :P

Last chapter has been edited to take away some unfortunate mistakes. Thanks for those who took the time to point them out. Mistakes my eyes didn't catch here will be corrected as they reveal themselves.

_Review!_

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**Chapter 6: Unmeeting at the meeting point**

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Henry stood close to Roland - and the little boy had nothing against that -, as the rest of his family, plus Captain Hook and Tinkerbell fanned out around him. Pan hadn't bothered playing his freezing game again and now stood in front of the small crowd with a wicked grin upon his face. Floating but a couple of inches off the ground, he looked almost weightless.

"Again we meet, Rumple. So nice to see the rest of the family. Shame our reunion had to be this way." From one side to the other, in a crazy pattern he moved. No one was using swords or arrows yet, but he didn't seem to be taking any chances.

"Why don't you face me, Father, and let us get this over with?"

"Ah… so you can reclaim my second heart?" Pan tisked at his son. "Now, now, Rumple. Have I ever been gullible?"

"It is not your heart!" Emma's shout was loud and angry, but the only effect it had on Pan was amusement. The attack was unified and intense when it came and Pan lost the amusement and became angry at the adults trying to harm him.

"Oh, yes it is…" Pan dove down, flying low over their heads and using his hands to knock off swords and divert arrows. He seemed momentarily startled when neither of the heros stopped trying to hit him. An arrow razed his leg and lept up higher in the air.

The arrows kept on coming from Snow and Tinkerbell, while David climbed a tree to come after him. Pan couldn't understand their viciousness when they had been so reluctant to hurt his lost boys in battle before. Even the Evil Queen had been less that deadly than she could have been. Still, it was a futile effort and that fact was as obvious to him as it was to the heros below.

"Why continue this, when you know you cannot defeat me?" He snarled at them and made a couple of arrows boomerang back to their shooters. Tinkerbell ducked just in time and Snow was hit in the arm, yelping lowly. "Pan cannot be defeated!"

So focused was he on the attack and the fruitlessness of it all, that Pan missed one very important player in this game of catch: Rumplestiltskin's shadow. The devious thing might have been diverted by Pan's own shadow hadn't the entity in question been already trapped by Neal's coconut contraption. Low it swept, knocking onto Pan and bringing him onto the ground with a loud thud. The boy hadn't the time to catch his breath before his grown son had his hand on his chest and then Henry's golden heart in his hand.

"No!"

The offending shadow was thrown away and so was Henry's heart as Rumple tossed it to his own son, Neal. Both villains met full force, arms locked together and eyes spitting fire. "You cannot defeat me!"

"I don't have to defeat you." Rumple answered, voice low and filled with menace. "I only have to kill you."

Rumple's shadow appeared again, this time with a very familiar dagger in hand. It dropped the weapon onto its master's hand and flew away. The Dark One wasted no time with platitudes of long speeches. That was for amature villains and Rumplestiltskin was no amature. With one swift move, the dagger met Pan's back and the boy in question fell forward, its weight against his son.

"Rumple… don't do this! You are my family… My only son." Pan's eyes were filled with tears, but Rumple had no compassion left inside of him for this boy. This man that had once been a father who had so carelessly abandoned his son.

"Goodbye, Father."

Blood seeped through Pan's clothes and then, it was no longer a boy that stood there, but a fully grown man, who fell to his knees. His eyes rolled close and his body collapsed, unaided, onto the cold, wet ground of the forest. The dagger on his back faded from view, turning to ash. And with tears streaming down his face, Rumple smiled at his son, then his grandson.

It was over.

It was all over.

xxxxxxxxx

Rumpelstiltskin had been dreading this moment since the beginning of his career as the Dark One. Few, he was sure, would be able to ignore such a looming threat as "your undoing". The future was such a fickle thing, though. He should have known that the words of the seer had meanings hidden behind hidden meanings.

This was what it meant. Not loss or death, as he had imagined, but sacrifice. And like Regina, it was not a sacrifice made by coercion. It was a gift to the son he had failed to protect. It was a future to the grandson he had once wished to kill.

Funny how life had a way of coming full circle.

Powers gained to protect his son from war. Powers lost to protect his son's son. The Dark One, now, was no more, and all that he could do, all that he could feel, were slivers of regret and loss and… relief. Rumple felt relieved and that was something he had not expected at all. Power had been his life, his purpose, his destiny and his wish. Even when pursuing a way back to his son, he had feared the relinquishing of his power.

And yet, it was really relief he felt. It was over. More than 300 years and it was finally over.

Feeling weak and drained of both power and strength, Rumple allowed his knees to hit the ground. His lips were smiling, though, especially when it was his son's arms that came forward to envelope him. He understood Regina's last half smile, then, even if he knew this would not mean death for him as it had for her.

After all, he still had a heart to return, an anchor to find and a long ago evil deed to redeem.

xxxxxxx

Enchanted Forest

Past

Regina pondered the king and Snow in the garden below. No matter what happened or how long the time passed, she seems to be, always, outside looking in. How could long ten years have already passed in this hellish prison, she wondered? And she was still there, trapped and miserable and rapidly losing her mind.

She had tried to leave, of course. Those plans always ended badly, though. Nightmares and shots of pain, vines and deep roots…Magic would not allow her to leave for long the presence of her husband and the confines of this castle. Not even her own magic could thwart the magic her own mother had placed on her before being exiled. And if Rumpelstiltskin could somehow influence it, he hadn't been forthcoming about it yet.

A sigh escaped her lips, as she turned away from the idyllic, sugary sweet scene below.

Freedom was unattainable. Hands on head, she wondered what insanity would really feel like. She had danced around that hole for years. Her magic had either helped or pressed her further into the abyss, Regina could never be quite sure. Either way, she felt it was only a matter of time. She was only 27 summers old… how could she withstand 27 years more? For surely, trapped in that castle, in that kingdom, with that girl, the Queen would surely lose it completely before death finally claimed her.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Though it had been postponed indefinitely by her own cowardice and inactivity, Regina could see that the time had come to push fear aside and do what she had been fantasizing about doing since Snow White had confessed to her crimes. She would see that girl's head in a silver platter if it was the last thing she ever did.

But first, her darling, darling husband had to go. For good.

An evil smile graced her lips and she couldn't deny it made her feel wonderful.

xxxxxxxx

Regina heard before she saw and felt before she realized that it was not marble floors beneath her body, but wet, dirty sand. She groaned and opened her eyes, seeing again the leafy trees of the Neverland Forest.

"I thought you didn't need any sleep…"

His mocking voice annoyed her so much, Regina was sure it might have been able to drag her from her own grave. Insufferable man! She glared his way, slowly sitting and then getting to her feet, ignoring Robin's offered hand of assistance. Already feeling weak, she refused to allow that man to drain the little strength she had, whatever the reason behind that strange magic reaction.

"We are in Neverland."

"Brilliant observation", the man could do sarcasm, Regina had to admit, even if only to herself... in the silence of her own mind.

"How did I get here?" Crossing her arms, she glared at him again, though it seemed Robin Hood was immune to her powers of intimidation.

"We arrived to find you passed out on the sand." Robin approached her and his proximity made her nervous. "Could it be that you are no longer an enchanted spirit? Could you have somehow reattached to your own body?"

She stared at him and pondered his words. Considering that she hadn't thought possible to survive the sacrifice she had made, her knowledge of this situation wasn't enough to provide the type of answers he sought. Sure, what he proposed was impossible, as far as she knew of the realms and magic, but not really impossible, all things considered. Enchanted spirits, anchors, portal jumping… Who knew what was really going on?

There would be no admitting that to him, though.

Regina reached for his arm and felt the electric current intensify. It leapt at her skin and drained her of strength. Not only that, it made her vision blur. She made sure to pull away quickly. Robin's eyebrow rose at her actions and the strange reaction her touch provoked in him. He said nothing, though, as he had done in times previous.

"I'm still an enchanted spirit…"

"I'm your anchor, aren't I?"

No hostility, no amusement, no mockery, no sarcasm. It was an honest, quiet question. It was a conclusion neither could long deny, present circumstances considered.

"I think so." Regina forced herself to keep their stare, refusing to be the first to look away. "You must have some sort of magic, or an amulet you don't know about. Or even, an enchantment upon you, that whatever pulled me from the dead latched onto."

Robin nodded and then glanced away, satisfied for now. Regina was far from satisfied, though. She felt like a puppet being moved this way and that way, by strings she could not see, but could feel, heavy on her limbs. It was a feeling she had been quite familiar with for the long years she had been under Cora's thumb and then later as Leopold's Queen.

She didn't like it… at all.

xxxx

"Have I been out for long?"

Robin heard her voice, firm and decisive, and allowed himself a sigh of relief. He didn't feel himself apt to discuss her enchantment or whatever he being her anchor meant in the long run. So, he was grateful she had focused her attentions elsewhere.

"No. We have just arrived." He briefly checked on Little John and Mulan, before glancing in the general direction of the queen. "Do you know where we are?"

"I think so… I've seen this lake before." He saw her turning, eyes sweeping the place in a 360º angle. "We made camp that way", she pointed east. "We should check it first. Pan's lair might be harder to find."

A nod and the foursome were on their way. It was a couple of hours trekking through the thick foliage before they stepped onto a clearing that showed clear signs of habitation. Only the bedrolls were no longer there. The fire had been put out. And there, fallen in the middle of the open space, laid the body of a boy dressed in green.

"Is that a lost boy?"

Regina approached the clearly dead boy and Robin could see in her eyes, the complete lack of sympathy. "No… It is Peter Pan himself." He almost shivered at the coldness in her voice.

"Well, if he is dead… Than your party has succeeded." He kept his eyes firmly on her, not wanting to, but prepared to believe the Evil Queen could resurface at any time. Robin had seen traces of her here and there when Regina had been angry and he knew a thing or two about tempers, anger and what lay in the madness of despair. No need to revisit such a dark place.

"Which probably means they are no longer here." She sighed and a part of him wanted to put his arms around her and make all her problems go away. It was an irrational thought, though, that stood in fierce contrast to his brain's loud command to keep his distance.

"Roland?"

"I… I think that, if they found him, they would have taken him to Storybrooke with them. We have a plantation of magic beans that can yield some new portals. It'll be a while, though." Regina met his gaze and Robin saw in her eyes that which she didn't say. He refused to believe, though, that his son had met such a dire fate as Peter Pan.

"We'll search the island… thoroughly. If Roland can't be found, we'll use the dust to go to your Storybrooke." As a good leader, he made sure to silently check with his companions about his plan. Both nodded his way, complying with the change of destination. They could very well go home themselves, as he travelled towards his son, but Robin knew that convincing them of that would be like trying to chop down a tree with bare teeth.

Not worth the effort.

"I can actually try to find him through magic. But this place might not react to my magic so easily. It'll be best to search personally, too." Regina had lost that haunted, dark look to her eyes and her words served to comfort the worried father. They would find Roland… it was only a matter of time.

xxxxxxxxxx

The Jolly Roger

Emma couldn't quite believe that it was over.

Well, not over, over, but close enough. They were leaving this god-forsaken island, Henry was okay and Pan would never be a threat again. Neal was alive and her father would be fine, after Mr. Gold brewed him a potion against the Dreamshade. There was only Regina to save and Emma felt confident about that. Must be those genes starting to affect her, for she had never been one for hope and positive thinking.

She chuckled at that. Genes, indeed. It was wonderful and sort of scary to see in her parents, things she knew she had inherited from them. It felt like roots and safety. It felt like everything she had always wanted and believed she could not, would not ever have. A sigh followed her merry thought. If only the world would stop conspiring against them.

Green eyes followed up, along the thick foremast of the Jolly Roger. One of the sails was black, as it fluttered against the wind. They were no longer upon water, but cruising the clouds. If she hadn't seen too much crazy shit in the past year, she might have felt awed. Right at that moment, though, she simply felt tired.

Emma saw Henry sitting on the deck with Roland and resisted the urge to grab him, squeeze him and never let him go. He definitely wouldn't appreciate that. Her son had appointed himself the little boy's guardian and that protective streak had only grown since Regina's protection seemed to enveloped Roland as well.

Her gaze continued along the wooden surface, to land upon the lost boys. Not all of them were on the ship, some having been left on the island, as had been their preference. Seven, however, had been more than eager to leave the confines of Neverland and endless childhood. She would make sure they all had a home when they arrived in Storybrooke, for she wished upon no one, the pain of rejection she had suffered as a child.

"Thinking about home?", a voice sound near her ear.

"I guess… More thinking about leaving that place." Snow nodded in understanding and offered her daughter a small smile. "Also thinking about Regina…", she confessed, eyes on Henry. "It seems almost strange not to have her here."

"Hum". Emma chose to ignore the vague comment the other woman made. She could certainly understand Snow White not being sad at her evil stepmother's absence. It felt wrong without Regina, though, the blonde hadn't been lying about that.

"Do you think Gold will be able to help us now that he is no longer the Dark One?" She frowned. "I mean… a potion for David, Regina's heart, this anchor he was speaking of, reattaching his own shadow after it brings us home… Seems to be a lot to accomplish without magic."

"Who said I would be the one doing the magic, dearie?"

She wanted to say she hadn't almost jumped a mile at Gold's sudden appearance, but the truth was she had. The damn man was like a cat, creeping about unnoticed and unheard. And he didn't even have his magic anymore!

"What does that mean?" Snow asked, moving an inch in front of Emma. The blonde chose to ignore that gesture, knowing it was not ill intentioned, even if it grated on her nerves.

"Out of all of us here, dearie…" And at that he made a sweeping gesture, one hand firmly using his cane for support. "Who has magic?"

Emma sighed. "I do."

"Exactly."

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_Home is where the heart is... maybe not figurately. Just saying... :P_


	8. Puzzle pieces drifting in the sea of air

**A/N:** More, simply because I'm too tired to actually work. Lots more to come!

Thank you for the favorites, the follows and the reviews, you guys are great.

**PLEASE GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER 4 AGAIN. I HAD FORGOTTEN TO POST IT AND IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION.**

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**CHAPTER 7: Puzzle pieces drifting in the sea of air**

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Tinkerbell had a lot of things running through her mind. Freedom, wings, fairy dust, a new life, Regina… it was all a whirlwind inside her head. One particular thing, though, held more of her attention and focus than the others. And that was Roland.

Sitting above deck, among newly made friends and old acquaintances, she watched the small boy playing with sticks, completely absorbed by his own imagination. The boy, as far as she could tell, had no connection to Regina and yet, the protective spell that lingered on Henry had worked just the same with Roland. She couldn't help but wonder why.

Unless he wasn't so unconnected as he seemed.

On a hunch, she clenched her jaw and breathed in deeply, allowing a small smile to grace her lips as she approached Roland and his ever present guardian, Henry. She made sure to approach them slowly, so as to seem non threatening and when she was close enough, Tink crouched by them, tilting her head to get Roland's attention.

Henry sees her and tilts his head sideways too, watching her closely. The look on his face is so Regina, Tink felt a small tug at her heart for the Queen who had been too scared to find happiness.

"Roland, hello…", Tink smiled and made no move to touch the boy. "Can I ask you a question?"

Roland eyed her warily, but nodded in the affirmative, after a quick glance at his new friend Henry.

"Does your daddy have a tattoo on his arm… here?" Tink showed her own arm and pointed to a place near her own wrist. Roland nodded again. "What is it…. do you remember?"

"Course!" Roland answered, smiling as he always did when talking about his father. "A lion!"

Tink made sure to smile in return, but the truth was that her whole body was shuddering with this revelation. She patted the boy on the head and turned away from him, finally allowing the frown to fall onto her face. Barely two steps away, her progress was stopped by Henry's voice.

"How did you know? About the tattoo?" His voice was firm and serious and Tink was sure he had realized that her question meant something important.

xxxx

They search for hours, systematically combing the forest for any signs of Roland. It was just as the sun was descending onto the horizon, that Robin noticed the eyes observing him from the trees.

"I mean you no harm", he called out, his own gaze fixed on the eyes hidden behind the foliage up high. "I only wish to know of a boy that was brought here."

"Many are brought here. None leaves…" There was a pause. "None used to leave."

Regina sided up to Robin and saw that the face staring back at them was that of a boy, a lost boy, she had actually seen before. It was the boy whose heart she had taken and later returned. "Now, though. Some boys did leave?" Regina asked, trying to sound non threatening, but not quite sure she succeeded.

"I remember you, witch", the boy said and his words lacked the venom she had expected to find there.

"And I you, boy."

"I…" The boy, whose name she never learned, pushed the leaves away from his face and maneuvered around the tree branches to lean closer to the pair below. In the distance, they could hear the others calling out to Roland. "They invited us all to come with them. To have a new life. To…" He sighed, looking away. "... to grow up."

Regina could see his words were important to him and that saying anything at all would only make him retreat, so she put her hand on Robin's arm to urge him to be quiet and never wavered her gaze from the figure sitting on a branch like a skilled monkey.

"You chose to stay…" She pulled her hand away from Robin, having felt the usual draining sensation.

"Yes… I… now." It was obvious to Regina that the boy had changed his mind. "I wanted…"

It was not in her nature to be compassionate, but looking at him then, his size much like Henry's and his eyes infinitely more haunted, she could no say she felt nothing. Regret was such a terrible feeling to hold. "You wanted to go."

He nodded and chanced another glance at her. "Yes."

"Have you seen a boy named Roland? He is about this high, five years old and has dark hair and brown eyes", Robin asked, voice firm, yet soothing.

"Yes", the boy answered, not looking away from Regina. "He was with Henry and he went back with the others."

Robin sighed beside her and she suppressed a smile at the way he could be so closed off one moment and so transparent at other times. He touched her back lightly and left, most certainly to tell Mulan and Little John about the news. Regina remained where she was, eyes on the boy.

"What is your name?", she asked.

"Adam…"

Regina smiled and nodded. "We used pixie dust to get here and I'm not sure we have enough to take you with us. But if there is still some pixie or fairy dust around the island, I'm sure we could manage…" She paused and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "If you want to, that is.

"I… Pan had a bit of pixie dust. It's… it's hidden." The boy walked like a cat over branches and landed with soft feet in front of Regina. "There are no more dust on the canopy trees. Pan used it all. But I know where his last stash is."

Regina nodded, trying not to show eagerness or greed at the knowledge of more pixie dust. She didn't actually needed it, but old habits died hard.

"You look different…" The boy said, still keeping his distance.

"I know."

xxxxxx

Robin and his friends sat by the fire, made necessary to dispel some of the darkness of the forest at night, though not due to the heat. Neverland was always hot and humid. Regina stood near a tree, looking up to the full moon and looking so still, Robin thought she could well be a statue. They were camping for the night and waiting for Adam, more pixie dust and whoever else regretted not accepting the offer to leave with the crew of the Jolly Roger.

He hated the waiting.

The only comfort came in the knowledge that Roland was in safe hands, specially in the form of a boy he had heard so much about from Neal and Regina. It wasn't enough, though. He needed to hold his little boy in his arms and feel, in the depth of his bones, that he was truly safe and that he hadn't lost him like he had lost Marian.

Regina sighed and moved closer to the fire, sitting by Robin without a glance to anyone. "You'll go where I go, won't you?", he asked, though he already knew the answer to that question.

"Yes…" Regina glanced his way and her eyes revealed how unsettled it all made her feel. "You are my anchor, for whatever reason." She looked away.

"How can one become an anchor? Have you some idea of what happened?" He stared at her as she stared into the flames.

"I don't know", she whispered. "I think it was opportunity more than anything else."

"Opportunity?", he frowned.

"You were likely the closest with the right combination of factors necessary to create me." She briefly glanced at him. "Residual magic of some sort, probably, because I can't sense you being magical in nature."

"Residual… A fairy wand, perhaps?"

"Used on you or by you?" She asked, finally focusing all her attention on him.

"By me, on another." Regina sighed and shook her head.

"Then no. Fairy dust or even pixie dust used on you may leave some vestige. Maybe." She sighed and turned back to the fire. "I just don't know. This wasn't supposed to be possible at all."

Robin could sense that there was more she knew and chose not to share with him. He reasoned it was possibly fear keeping these secrets within her. Though no expert on magic, Robin knew enough about enchanted spirits to know that they could be controlled by the one who had created them and couldn't find fault in her fear. He would have been scared as well.

"And what is that sparkle that happens when we touch?" He saw her shuddering at the question and worried about what it meant.

"I don't know…"

She was lying and he could see that clearly. It was only a matter of deciding if he would let it go or if he would press the issue. In the end, he decided that he needed to know. "Regina…"

She huffed, aware of his disapproving tone and looked, for a brief second, like a petulant child rolling their eyes heavenward. "Fine." She turned to face him, back straight and chin slightly up. "My magic drains as does my strength when we touch. It is probably the anchoring spell interfering with my current form."

What she didn't say and Robin chose not to speak out loud, was what it would mean for them to touch for prolonged periods of time. If the spell held on for much longer. Enchanted spirits were finite and never long lasting.

"And when the spell loses momentum?"

"Then I die, as I was meant to die before." Those words, spoken so matter of factly, made goosebumps spring up and down his spine. The thought of her vanishing into thin air wasn't a pleasant thought at all.

He wanted to ask her if she wanted to die, but words failed him. So, he turned to face the fire and said nothing at all.

xxxxxxx

He was asleep, as was Mulan. Little John sat on the other side of the fire, keeping watch in the night. And Regina…well, enchanted spirits needed no sleep. Could not actually sleep even if they might so desire. If only she didn't feel so tired and so weary, she might not long for sleep so strongly.

Having chosen to lay down, despite the impossibility of sleep, the queen turned mayor, turned enchanted spirit watched the stars that could be seen beyond the trees and wondered about her life. Would she be able to see her son one last time? Would she simply fade from existence? She wondered what that felt like. And Robin Hood, the man keeping her temporarily tethered. He seemed a constant in her mind.

Regina turned her head to the side, observing the quiet of the forest, when even the crickets could not be heard, and allowed her eyes to land on the man in question. Mulan laid beyond him, sword to her chest and eyes closed. Robin looked troubled, even in sleep, and the lines on his forehead were testament to his worry as a father.

It was only as her fingertips grazed those lines that Regina realizes she had reached for him at all. Sparkles of different colours danced where her skin met his and a heaviness travelled from her limb to her body. Still, she didn't pull away, fascinated by the way his brow stopped creasing and his entire face relaxed at her touch. Not even with Graham had she allowed herself to lay like this, simply observing a man sleep.

Her fingers traced his brow again, then caressed the side of his face, reaching the rough and soft beard he had sported since the day she had met him. It was not her intention to touch his lips, but her fingers did so, very lightly, before abandoning this exploration completely. Feeling as if sleep would actually be possible, touching him so, Regina laid on her side and dropped her hand to land beside his arm. The barest of touch was enough. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift away, not worrying about not waking up.

Enchanted spirits could not sleep, but maybe they could drift away in a final rest.

There was so much she had lived through and yet so much she hadn't done. Henry's future graduation, wedding... Maybe a new start in Storybrooke. She was a fragment, though. A last vestige of her former self, preserved by some twisted spell of her mother's from long ago and sustained by this man she laid beside. It was only a matter of time.

So, why not now, when she felt so tired and rest seemed so heavenly.

Her eyes closed and she drifted away.

* * *

_Do they really know what is happening or are twists coming? :P_

_I'm just saying..._


End file.
